Dan Harding

[The Auditor]

They knew the risks. Anyway, I upset MY parents every day when they read the tripe I've been writing. Why should Dans parents be protected...?

 

[Hydro Driven]

We need to get him to sign a new contract!(+ others!!!!).
He has massve potential!!!! but isn't playing that well this year, he needs to prove himself in this division!!

 

[binary]

It could be worse, those burgers you used to get in the North Stand.

Come on even Dicky Tiltman wasn't as bad as the North Stand burgers.

On that basis Harding is more like a dodgy kebab! Clearly it is without chlli sauce as he can't run that fast.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

play watto there

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

We need to get him to sign a new contract!(+ others!!!!).
He has massve potential!!!! but isn't playing that well this year, he needs to prove himself in this division!!

Didn't play that well last season either as I recall

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

He's dodgy - simple as that.

Sorry, but I just cannot FATHOM how he has made it to the U21 team - it certainly doesn't seem to be based on his performances this season. He gets caught out of position, is often clumsy and weak in the tackle, and his distribution is poor.

As a full-back, El-Abd is STREETS ahead of Harding in my opinion.

WiseWiseWise

 

[timbha]

last five goals conceded have been down our left hand side - can't cope with players running at us. Common denominator?

Watson's just as bad - bring back Kerry Mayo

 

[Bwian]

I don't know what Mayo did to warrant being dropped; and I don't know what Harding has done to warrant his continued occupation of the left-back berth.
As I have said before, Harding is one of those players that coaches rate and fans do not.

Can't disagree with any of the above...especially after last night's performance. Harding was a liability last night-as he has been for most of the season. A couple of goalmouth scrambled clearances does not an England left back make!

 

[London Irish]

he was ripped apart by reich last night. Every time reich got the ball Harding was nowhere to be seen.

If he's a future international

As Reich is a leftwinger, and Harding is a leftback, it was no surprise when Reich got the ball Harding was nowhere to be seen. He was on the other side of the pitch.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Deary me. We're playing at a high level, while Harding is very new to pro football. He also has Currie in front of him who admits he has a weakness in defending. And we all seem very happy to slate him.

He looks excellent in U21's where he has a midfielder who has been taught to defend. I'm not slating Currie, but as a defender I would rather have Hammond in front me than Currie.

The kid needs support, not abuse

 

[London Irish]

All I would say on that is that last night all three goals came from lack of marking / mistakes down our left side and the left back for two of them was Harding.

This is twice in this thread you've implied that Harding was at fault with the first two Derby goals. This is simply not true.

You know, if you are going to slag a player for his performance in the game, you really have to watch the game. Harding was by no means our worst player last night, plenty were ahead of him on that score, including all our other 3 or 4 defenders.

The first goal was Rasiak in the inside right position dragging Butters out of the defensive line and Smith walking through the hole created and scoring. Fault: Butters.

The second goal was Currie losing possession in a dangerous area of the pitch, then Peschisolido and Rasiak exposing Butters for pace in the inside right position and Rasiak finishing. Fault: Currie and Butters

The third goal, ironically, was partly the leftback's fault. Mayo mistimed a tackle and gave Smith plenty of time to cross. Then Rasiak outjumped his marker Cullip. Fault: Mayo and Cullip.

You'll notice no mention of Harding in any of those goals. Generally Derby's main area of attack was down our right, not the left, where Reich was untouchable until McGhee shored up the defence there.

It is totally laughable to scapegoat Harding for our poor Derby display. In fact, McGhee moved Harding into centre midfield during the course of the game in an attempt to counteract the Derby playmakers, such was his confidence in him.

But I do share McGhee's frustration with Harding that he still has much to learn before thinking he is ready to move on from us. I don't blame agents or his parents lurking somewhere in NSC for that, that's Dan getting a bit above himself.

And as for this comment,

You will have London Irish on your case soon....

I would just like to make one further point

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Who said anything about being brilliant ? Adequate would do for starters.

Fine, drop him. But its laughable that we should just let him go.

 

[Easy 10]

Fine, drop him. But its laughable that we should just let him go.

I'm not saying we should let him go (unless someone comes in with an offer of, say, £150k-£200k). But I don't think he's ready for the first team yet. He IS still developing as a player, but I havn't seen enough improvement in him to warrant a place in the starting line-up every week. Mayo's not perfect, in fact I think his distribution is as equally poor as Hardings. But he is a more solid full-back than Harding, is a better tackler, and because of his experience, Mayo is less prone to being caught out of position.

As I say, Mayo is by no means perfect, but at the moment I think he is a better option than Harding, who really is struggling now.

As you say, drop him.

 

[rool]

My first impression on seeing the goals on TV was that MK seemed a bit slow in reacting. None of them looked red hot scorchers and I have seen him save those in the past.

 

[Saint Lennard]

We need to get him to sign a new contract!(+ others!!!!).
He has massve potential!!!! but isn't playing that well this year, he needs to prove himself in this division!!

Can you clarify this. We want him to sign (thus taking away the opportunity to pay a salary to someone else, possibly better, hopefully up front) even though he is not playing well but has potential that the majority of people on this thread has not seen. You say he is not playing that well this year (have you noticed we are playing a division higher?) but needs to prove himself. How long do you give him? All season? Let him go in January so we can make the most of his departure before it is too late. Why can't people see that if Taylor didn't have previous knowledge of him then he wouldn't be anywhere near the England U21 team. Even Mr Taylor said that he must be good if he is keeping Kerry Mayo out of the team!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ManOnTheRun]

As I have said before, Harding is one of those players that coaches rate and fans do not.

... and as coaches, professionals in their field, maybe we should trust their judgement?

I agree everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I hope people do not start to get on his back publicly. It's fair enough on here, but lets try and back him on the pitch.

 

[Seagullible]

why is it thet supporters don't seem to support and encourage these days. Players aren't stupid and know when they make mistakes or play badly. Some people make comments about players not doing stuff like pushing on but have they ever thought that they have been told to hold as part of a formation?
I think we have a good team with great potential which needs encouragement.
rant over

 

[Saint Lennard]

why is it thet supporters don't seem to support and encourage these days. Players aren't stupid and know when they make mistakes or play badly. Some people make comments about players not doing stuff like pushing on but have they ever thought that they have been told to hold as part of a formation?
I think we have a good team with great potential which needs encouragement.
rant over

Some of it could be because we spend the majority of our disposable income for them to be paid extortionate salaries to carry out something they enjoy 100% and something we would all love the opportunity to do for half the money.

 

[Easy 10]

why is it thet supporters don't seem to support and encourage these days. Players aren't stupid and know when they make mistakes or play badly. Some people make comments about players not doing stuff like pushing on but have they ever thought that they have been told to hold as part of a formation?
I think we have a good team with great potential which needs encouragement.
rant over

Completely disagree with your opening statement. I think the Albion fans have been SUPERBLY supportive of the team this season. Everyone is aware of the contraints we are having to operate under, and everyone realises that the team is up against it and punching above its weight, and is making allowances for that. Other than the odd moan now and then (which you'll always get), in general the fans have been extremely supportive and have not turned on the team or any individual.

That doesn't mean we can't discuss the weaknesses of certain players, or put up criticisms on here. Its been said before - NSC is basically like a pub. Its no different from sitting round a table after a game and saying "so-and-so was shit today". Nothing wrong with that. The important thing is that we support the team during the game, and by and large, I think that happens.

 

[The Auditor]

Completely disagree with your opening statement. I think the Albion fans have been SUPERBLY supportive of the team this season. Everyone is aware of the contraints we are having to operate under, and everyone realises that the team is up against it and punching above its weight, and is making allowances for that. Other than the odd moan now and then (which you'll always get), in general the fans have been extremely supportive and have not turned on the team or any individual.

That doesn't mean we can't discuss the weaknesses of certain players, or put up criticisms on here. Its been said before - NSC is basically like a pub. Its no different from sitting round a table after a game and saying "so-and-so was shit today". Nothing wrong with that. The important thing is that we support the team during the game, and by and large, I think that happens.

Spot on Easy - although I'd rather be in the Pub arguing the toss on these issues